Continental bought the land from AlliedSignal in 1999 with the intention of building a complex for mixed airport-related operations, including kitchen facilities, a training center and off-site airport parking for employees. Newark International Airport is one of the airline's three national hubs. But internal changes and a reorganization forced by the airline's and the wider industry's woes over the last year turned the site into surplus property.
The site is located within the North Avenue/Kaplowski Road redevelopment area, which the City of Elizabeth has been actively trying to recast. Traditionally a manufacturing and warehousing/distribution zone, city officials are looking to turn it into a mixed-use hotel, retail and high-tech area. Surrounding neighbors are decidedly mixed in nature, ranging from the one million-sf outlet-dominated Jersey Gardens Mall and the second-oldest IKEA store in North America, to terminals for shippers Maersk and Maher and a 500,000-sf FedEx distribution facility.
"The site affords port users and many retail and high-tech users a prime opportunity in this progressive redevelopment market," according to Toby Enquist, senior director of corporate real estate for Continental. "With retail neighbors like IKEA and Jersey Gardens, this area attracts a wide range of retail users with its interconnected highway access."
The marketing assignment for the site has gone to the Garibaldi Group, the Chatham, NJ-based real estate brokerage and consulting firm. "As the largest available tract of prime land in the Port Newark/Elizabeth marketplace, this site offers solid potential for a user to develop a comprehensive mix of retail, hotel and high-tech flex projects," says F. John Fatigati, senior vice president at Garibaldi.
From a location standpoint, the Continental tract is situated at Exit 13A of the New Jersey Turnpike, one of two key interchanges feeding traffic into and out of the port and airport facilities. It is served by light rail, with plans in the works for an operational stop at the site. Similarly, a ferry stop for transfer to New York City is planned.
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